PURCHASE, N.Y. – The William Paterson baseball team (11-6) never trailed during a 9-8 victory March 22 at Manhattanville (5-6).
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Pioneers broke the scoreless deadlock with a single run during the top of the second inning. Senior right fielder Vinnie Martin reached on a leadoff error and was replaced by freshman pinch runner Patrick Ryan. Ryan stole second and advanced to third on a flyout, then trotted home three batters later when senior third baseman Colin Lombardo singled.
- Junior left fielder Elliott Hayward opened the fourth frame with a solo homer, followed by a hit by pitch for senior shortstop Chris Liriano and a Justin Grippo double and error, making it a 3-0 score. Another error moved Grippo to third, and sophomore second baseman Jake Lutz lifted a sacrifice fly to left to push WP ahead by a 4-0 count.
- The Valiants used a walk, two errors, a sacrifice bunt and a sac fly to cross the plate twice during the home half of the fourth.
- Manhattanville strung together a double, single, sac bunt and sac fly to make it a 4-3 game after six innings.
- William Paterson gave itself some breathing room with a three-run seventh. Senior designated hitter Dan Carter was issued a leadoff walk and Ryan reached on an error before back-to-back run-scoring singles from Hayward and Liriano. Lombardo added a sacrifice fly, and the Pioneers owned a 7-3 advantage.
- Two errors, three singles, a sac bunt and sac fly led to three Manhattanville runs and a 7-6 score following the home half of the seventh inning.
- The Pioneers answered during their next at-bat. Senior catcher Steve Yelin opened the frame with a double and Carter followed with an RBI-single, creating an 8-6 edge.
- Grippo started the top half of the ninth with a walk, used a wild pitch and passed ball to get to third, then touched home when freshman second baseman Tom Radigan singled, making it a 9-6 WP lead.
- A two-run single put the potential go-ahead run at the plate for Manhattanville with two out during the bottom of the ninth inning, but a final strikeout secured the win for William Paterson.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Yelin finished 2-for-5 with two doubles and a run scored, while Lombardo drove in two runs.
- Carter, Hayward and graduate student first baseman Carson Weis each contributed a pair of hits.
- Senior Matt Lawler worked 6.0 innings, allowing four runs (one earned), six hits and one walk (1-0).
- Junior Dan Castaneda pitched 2.0 innings of four-hit ball, allowing two runs (one earned) while posting one strikeout. Carter allowed two runs, a walk and a hit while striking out two hitters in the ninth for his fourth save of the year.
UP NEXT:
- William Paterson travels to Keystone Thursday, March 24, at 3:30 p.m.
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